Honorable Robert Bunda

President of the Senate

Twenty-Second State Legislature

Regular Session of 2004

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Ways and Means, to which was referred S.B. No. 3012, S.D. 1, entitled:

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to require the Hawaii Educational Policy Center to conduct an annual assessment of the educational accountability system under Act 238, Session Laws of Hawaii 2000.

Your Committee finds that Act 238 expanded the Department of Education's accountability system to specifically include student accountability, professional accountability for schools, teachers, principals, other employees, and public accounting for other significant partners to the education process. Act 238 also added requirements for student performance benchmarks, professional development for teachers and administrators, and required the Department to provide annual educational status reports and financial reports on the accountability system. Your Committee finds, however, that the Department has not fully met its obligations under Act 238.

In other states, including Tennessee and Kentucky, education accountability and oversight have been transferred to an independent entity. This practice embraces the logic that the agency responsible for developing and implementing an accountability system should not be the one to assess its effectiveness.

This bill follows in the steps of our sister-states by requiring the Hawaii Educational Policy Center of the Research Corporation of the University of Hawaii to conduct an independent annual assessment of the educational accountability system pursuant to Act 238, Session Laws of Hawaii 2000.

Your Committee has amended the bill by making technical amendments that have no substantive effect.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Ways and Means that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 3012, S.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Third Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 3012, S.D. 2.